It was raining on the morning of December 24.  Then we got the bad news.  A doctor had visited Carl and Corey, and Corey had tested positive for covid.  He and Carl were confined to their room.  We brought them meals from the Alltra’s restaurants, but we couldn’t eat with them. The rest of us felt subdued.  We had enjoyed ourselves so much at Chichén Itzá.  David, Zhi-Ning, and Lilah, as well as Zhi Ren and Jenn, had never had covid before.  We anxiously monitored ourselves for symptoms. 

After it stopped raining, the weather continued to be blustery, Paul, Hayley and Lilah swam in the pool, while Bridget and Zhi-Ning looked on.  At mid-morning, an attendant set up a net across the swimming pool and there was a rather intense volleyball competition.  After that, a disc jockey cued up some loud music.  I retreated to my room for some reading and writing.  Bridget and I ate lunch at the buffet.  It felt strange to see the Alltra staff wearing the hats of Santa’s elves and putting up Christmas eve decorations.  In front of the México Café, there was a Christmas tree, Santa’s sleigh, and the facades of Mexican houses.  They reflected the tradition of Las Posadas that commemorates the journey of Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of an inn where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus. 

Bridget and I went for a walk along the beach with Paul.  When we returned, we found a place that turned out to be our favorite gathering place.  It was a loft above the México Café and overlooked the Christmas display.  There we began to plan our Christmas dinner.  The Mexican and the Italian restaurants were booked up, so Bridget and I reserved a large single table at the Azul restaurant.  While we waited for the table to be free, there were a lot of interesting conversations.  David talked about how American law lagged behind European law in its treatment of unscrupulous black marketeers who sell personal information on the internet.  Jenn said that she had always wanted to be a teacher and relate to young people.

Zhi Ren introduced us to a game like “Headbanz,” but played with a cell phone.  Contestants would hold the phone up to their foreheads, so the audience could see the phone’s display but the contestant could not.  On the phone would appear words, and the audience would call out hints to help the contestant guess the words.  I remember Lilah trying to guess the word “goat.”  Paul was calling out hints, such as “Greatest Of All Time” – a hint that Lilah did not get (although she did correctly guess the animal).  Zhi Ren was amazed by our competitiveness.  It was Christmas Eve, and we looked forward to exchanging gifts.